While the Avalanche were able to battle back from a 3 goal deficit in game 1 to lose 4-3, Johan Franzen and the Wings absolutely destroyed the Avalanche in game 2 with a 5-1 tally. Peter Budaj played in relief of Theodore in both of the games and played beautifully, allowing only one goal in the 20 shots he’s faced so far. Theodore is blaming is almost abrupt turnaround in performance on the flu and has assured the media he will be ready for game 3. But, what will Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville decide?

The semifinals has given us some interesting matchups to chew on for the next couple of weeks. Colorado and Detroit have a chance to renew a sorely missed rivalry that has produced some of the baddest blood in sports. Pittsburgh is up against a seasoned New York team, leaving us to wonder if experience will once again be the Penguins’ downfall. Can Montreal keep up with the dominating physical presence of Philadelphia? Who will win the battle of the goaltenders between Dallas and San Jose. Below is my analysis and picks for the next round. I’m also including Fred Beery and Alan Shields’ picks to give you some perspective from other hockey fans.

Wednesday night was a night of upsets with only one top seed winning their game. In case you missed it, here’s a wrap up of last night’s games.

With all that the NHL got wrong with their post-lockout schedule matrix, the all-divisional playoff push at the end of the season is genius. Right now we’re seeing incredible match ups and nail-biting points races to round out the season. It’s like a mini-playoffs! Here’s the teams you need to watch for the next couple weeks.

However, teams like Detroit and Pittsburgh have shown little ill effect from their numerous injuries to marquee players. The Penguins’ success rate without Crosby is actually a novel stat that shows how their team can deal with such a big loss. While watching from the press box, Sid has seen his team skate to a 12-6-4 record. Detroit, besides that anomaly of a losing streak in February, haven’t really missed their injured players, skating to an eighth straight 100 point season.

It was an easy win over Vancouver and it extended the Avs’ win streak to 4. Even John-Michael Liles, a struggling defenseman who hasn’t scored in 4 months, won the game with a rare power play goal. This is a must win time of the year, but all of a sudden, the Avalanche seem up to it.